Chapter Twenty-Seven:
( a better frosty holiday )

*warning, mentions of blood, trauma,
self-inflicted pain is mentioned in this chapter

▂✫⌒*･ﾟ

             UNFORTUNATELY, SPENCER NEVER GOT the chance to speak with Blaise about what happened between them. After the party, Ricky and her found Harry with a shocked expression, his eyes widened in disbelief. The three left the party in hopes for the Gryffindor to come back to them and explain what happened. During that time, they got the vague snips of it. However, now that Spencer is back at the Weasley's, Harry began explaining it more in depth.

             "If you ask that once more," Harry begins with deep annoyance, "I'm going to stick this sprout—"

             "I'm only checking!" Ron exclaims loudly, waving his hands around crazily to stop his best friend from doing anything. Spencer rolls her eyes at the two of them, letting the redhead hide behind her like some shield. The young Weasley male cannot stop repeating the same question over and over again— which generally annoys the two of them. See, Harry just informed them that he heard Snape and Malfoy talking (she knew that already), but also that Snape offered the blond Slytherin help. In what? Spencer has no clue, but she has a feeling it has to do with Voldemort.

             Currently, the three of them are helping Mrs. Weasley with her cooking having nothing better to do (actually, Spencer forced them to help the woman and while Ron did not seem to want to, Harry had no problem with it). As she continues peeling the sprouts, she asks Harry, "Well, what did they say, exactly?"

             Harry, who is somehow an expert at cooking, easily continues, "Snape said he'd promise Malfoy's mother to protect him, that he'd made an Unbreakable Oath or something—"

             Ron and Spencer share a look of surprise and then turn back to him. "An Unbreakable Vow?" The two question in unison, a stunned expression on their face.

             "Are you sure?" Ron asks once more in disbelief. Harry gives him a look and answers, "Yes, I'm sure. Why? What does it mean?"

             "Well, you can't break it..."

             "I worked that out myself, funnily enough," Harry responds back sarcastically. "What happens if you break it then?"

             "Well..." Spencer tries to find the words to say kindly.

             However, Ron has other plans. "You die," he says bluntly. 

             "Ron!" Spencer gasps out, putting down the knife to smack him on the chest with her hand. The redhead rubs the spot where she hit him, giving her an apology glance before continuing, "Fred and George tried to get me to make one when I was five. I nearly did too, I was holding hands with Fred and everything when Dad found us. He went mental."

             There is a reminiscent gleam on his face. "Only time I've seen Dad as angry as Mum. Fred reckons his left buttock has never been the same since."

             Spencer gapes wide-open at him, a slight snicker wanting to escape her mouth at the thought of them. Her nose scrunches up when she feels her stomach twisting nervously. Having no idea why it should, Spencer ignores it. Harry makes the same face before saying, "Yeah, well, passing over Fred's left buttock—"

             A figure appears from behind the Ravenclaw. "I beg your pardon?" Fred squeezes her shoulders before grinning at his twin brother. "Ah, George, look at this! They're using knifes and everything! Bless them," he wipes a tear to be even more dramatic.

             "Oh, shove off," Spencer sticks her tongue at them. "You help your mother, then!"

             George presses a kiss in her cheek. "We'll love to!" He grabs the knife from her hands and continues peeling off the sprouts. Fred scrunches up his nose at the request. "I'll leave him to it," the other redhead denies, giving her a charming smirk.

             Spencer sends him a sharp glare. "No, come on. Help your twin out, Fred," she demands sweetly, handing him another knife to cut a few other vegetables. Fred frowns for a few seconds before doing as told.

             Ron leans toward Harry and whispers, "It's good she's on our side, innit?"

             "Can you believe we've only befriended her a year ago?" Harry shoots back.

             George widens his own smirk. "Speaking of, we've heard that Ronniekins has been french-kissing a young lady named Lavender Brown. Courtesy of our sister, of course," he supplies in.

             Spencer glances away from them. She kissed Blaise— well, he did it first but he asked and she said yes. Does that mean he likes her too? Or was it just the heat of the moment? Fuck... she likes Blaise. "Gross," Harry's voice interrupts her thoughts. She looks at him quizzically and repeats, "Gross?" Harry nods at her question and grimaces as if he remembers seeing them lip-lock. "Gross," he assures her. Blaise and her didn't exactly snog, but does them kissing still make others think as gross?

             Fred puts his arm around Ron. "How'd it happen?"

             "What'd you mean?"

             "Did she have an accident or something?"

             "What?"

             "Well, how did she sustain such extensive brain damage? Careful, now!"

             While Mrs. Weasley enters the kitchen to find her youngest son throw a knife to Fred (who turned it into a paper airplane), Spencer hides her face in Harry's neck, pushing onto her stomach to get over whatever cramps she is dealing with. The black-haired boy places his hand on her arm comfortably, an amused look on his own face. "Ron! Don't you ever let me see you throw knives again!"

             She turns to the twins with a kind look. "Fred, George, I'm sorry, dears, but Remus and Daniel are arriving tonight, so Bill will have to squeeze in with you two."

             George shrugs. "No problem," he says with a smile.

             "Then, as Charlie isn't coming home, that just leaves Harry and Ron in the attic, and if Fleur shares with Ginny and Spencer everyone should be comfortable. Well, they'll have a bed, anyway," Mrs. Weasley mumbles to herself. Spencer purses her lips slightly. She was hoping to meet the dragon-lover Charlie Weasley, but that'll have to wait until later, unfortunately. Though, she is glad Fleur will be joining her and Ginny. Ever since the three of them became friends, having her around had become even more fun. Hermione still has not accepted her nor Mrs. Weasley, but Fleur usually hung out with the two of them.

             "Percy definitely not showing his ugly-face, then?" Fred questions rudely. Then again, Spencer has heard stories about how that Weasley never bothered to believe Harry and had become even more stuck-up in his role as the Ministry's pet. She does not mention him since she knows it hurt Mrs. Weasley's feelings and it will anger the rest.

             Mrs. Weasley turns away. "No, he's busy at the Ministry. I think," the woman answers bluntly before walking away in a hurry.

             Fred rolls his eyes and sneers, "Or he's the world's biggest prat." He turns to George. "Well, let's go on then, George."

             Spencer raises an eyebrow at them. "What are you two doing?" She takes the knife from George's hand and stare at them in confusion. Ron scowls at his brothers. "Yeah! You should help us!"

             "We did," George and Fred respond back with a grin. "Didn't you see us helping Spencer? You could do your own work, Ron."

             George pats his cheek. "And you shouldn't throw knifes at people, brother. We're off to the village, there's a pretty girl working in the paper shop who thinks my card tricks are something marvelous... almost like real magic..."

             The two identical twins begin walking off to the outside world. Ron glares at their retreating figures while Spencer waves goodbye. "Gits," the redhead says darkly. "We could've gone as well."

             "I couldn't," Harry interrupts, "I promised Dumbledore I wouldn't wander off while I'm staying here."

             Ron groans. He peels a few more sprouts before asking, "Are you going to tell Dumbledore or the rest about what you heard between them?"

             Spencer purses her lips. "I gotta be honest with you, Harry," she sighs out, making the two boys stare at her in wonder. "I think they're just gonna assume Snape's trying to find out what Malfoy is doing."

             Harry frowns, though, he defends himself, "None of them heard it, alright? Snape isn't that good of an actor."

             Ron shrugs agreeing with the girl. "She's still right, though. We're just saying..."

             The young girl gives an apologetic glance before finally finishing off with the sprouts. She walks out of the kitchen and into the table, grabbing two pieces of parchment to write on. Spencer stops momentarily... why does she feel like something bad is going to happen? She shakes her thoughts out of her head. With a quill on her right scarred hand, she instantly begins writing her letter to Ricky. Through it all, she makes sure to mention how she loves him and about the kiss she had before leaving the party. He most likely will not stop pegging her next time he sends a letter and when they see each other. Then again, she wants to know what happened between him and Theodore so they are somewhat in the same place. Once she finishes with wishing him a Merry Christmas, she closes the letter and with it ties in a charmed horseshoe. There is a note beside it explaining what it does, but she could not help and frown knowing how upsetting it is to receive that as a gift.

             A charmed horseshoe given to protect his muggle family. With the protection charm that it had, if someone dares to attack their home, they will have to get through the barrier first of all. Hopefully, this will alert his parents and him (if he's there) and make them evacuate. The spell will last long so they'll have time— though, this will alert the Death Eaters that someone magical lived in the house. She has one just the same to alert her if it is used.

             Spencer glances down at the empty parchment. Last year, Blaise sent her a letter despite barely acquainting themselves as friends. This time... this time they kissed. Kiss as in his lips and hers were very well touching. She feels herself blush in thought before writing a letter once more. Keeping in mind that they are friends (or are they not friends anymore? Spencer thought she knew enough of the world and yet she is stuck), she keeps it kind and thoughtful. Her hands slightly tremble not knowing exactly what words to write down after what happened between them. It is all jumbled up! They were angry in the start of school and then... Merlin, she hates this feeling of not knowing. It is toward the end where she begins mentioning what they did. I've never kissed anyone before, truth be told, but for it being my first kiss, I am glad it was you. Though, I think we need to talk about it when we come back... Spencer bites her lip while stuck in what else to write. She is absolutely fucked. What are you suppose to say after that? Thank you? No, that's too odd. She sighs in confusion before ending it with 'Merry Christmas!'

             "Well, it could be worse... right?" Spencer mumbles to herself. She hopes that the two black rings that are being given to him wouldn't be taken the wrong way— what is the wrong way? Marriage? Shit—

             "What could be worse?" Ginny prompts the question loudly just as she sits down. Spencer jumps in surprise, accidentally spilling ink in the letter for Blaise. Shit? She waves over the parchment before quickly writing a short apology for it. "Who's that letter for?"

             The redhead girl leans back in the chair with a snack on her hand. She offers Spencer some of it, though, the brunette simply shakes her head. "N-no one important," Spencer clears her throat awkwardly, putting away the quill.

             Ginny raises an eyebrow clearly not believing her. Spencer truly hates herself for trusting the young girl having live with her for a couple of months. Ginny, just the same as her brothers, makes her believe that she will let the topic go, but instead when the chance is open she grabs the letter and begins reading it.

             "Ginny!" Spencer exclaims in betrayal.

             The younger girl lets out a small laugh and begins reading her own thoughts out loud. "Let's see... Charles Darnay? Who's Darnay? Hm... began talking again... the party hadn't been bad at all— YOU KISSED—" Ginny gasps and had only not finish her sentence when Spencer places her hand right on her mouth.

             "Charles Darnay is a fictional character created by Charles Dickens. He's the main character in the book A Tale of Two Cities," a familiar voice enters in the room along with many others. Spencer feels her own eyes widen as she slowly begins taking her hand out of Ginny's lips. Her back is turned from the rest of them, but she knows it would do no use of hiding and begins turning around. "Though, I'm more interested in the fact that my sister kissed someone...?"

             "Spencer did what?" Harry repeats with his mouth wide open.

             The young Montague hid her face in her hands. "Why is this getting too much attention?"

             Ginny hums in delight. "That's how I feel with all of my brothers," she chirps. Spencer glares at her.

             Professor Lupin, who Spencer notice arrived with Daniel, began walking toward them calmly. "Are you all truly surprised?"

             "Mostly hurt that she didn't tell me about it!" Ginny exclaims in defense.

             "Alright," Spencer begins, "I haven't even told Ricky! It happened out of nowhere and that's why I still need to talk to—"

             Ron raises up his eyebrows. "To who?"

             Harry glares at his best friend. "Oh, shut up. You've been snogging Lavender—"

             "Gross," Spencer emphasizes with a grimace. Her attention skids toward Daniel whose arms are crossed in curiosity.

             "Is it that kid from the bookstore? Blaise Zabini?" All of their attention revert back to the oldest Montague, eyes widen in shock than anything. Professor Lupin furrows his eyebrows thoughtfully before realizing who the man is talking about. Spencer groans at their topic of interest. "He's in Slytherin, correct?" Remus questions in wonder.

             Ginny gives her a look of confusion. "That... that explains why you two would always argue with another! Not the Slytherin part, just Zabini in general," she realizes.

             "We would not..." the brunette trails off as she thought back to the times in the Slug Club meetings. No, Ginny is right. They did argue all the time. Spence chooses to glare at her instead before carefully grabbing the letter from her hand. Her thoughts suddenly went back to what she plans on talking about with Blaise. What did it even mean? Spencer's brain begin to throb because of it not knowing the answer.

             Daniel glances around the room before giving his sister an understanding smile. "Don't think much on it, Spencer. Estela and I use to discuss about books often and at the end of the day make some compromise. Truthfully, I just liked seeing her riled up," he recalls, his eyes saddening slightly, though, a smile still on his lips.

             Spencer returns the smile knowing it still hurt him to mention his first love. She stands up from her seat and gathers her materials. "Well, I'm going to send these letters. Ginny, can you come with...?"

             The redhead glances at her curiously before nodding in assurance. She turns to the remaining figures in the room. "You can't eavesdrop in our room!"

             "We weren't going too!" Ron exclaims in exasperation. Harry nudges his side with a glare. "Speak for yourself!"

And the two girls went off to gossip, Fleur following along after she arrives. Spencer felt slightly better talking it over with her friends, but Merlin... she should have checked the goddamn date. Or perhaps, she should have just listen to the horrible feeling that her inner self has been trying to tell her.

.･:*:･ﾟ'✫,'✫'ﾟ･:*:･˙

             SPENCER STARES AT HERSELF in the mirror while in the bathroom. Having woken up in pure sweat and tears streaming down her face— she only wonders how Ginny nor Fleur did not stir themselves awake. Her head throbs in continuous pain that she has no idea how to stop. Clear flashes of Morgana injecting a needle on her arm began reappearing, haunting her every second. She grasps into her own arm, feeling a tingle of pain erupting and then it slowly began hitting her wrist— like if she were restrained. Her eyes wander down to notice a familiar dot— as if she is currently being drugged with how it suddenly reappears and her vision becomes drowsy. Was the mirror moving or was that just her? Is it possible that Morgana...?

             Her hand grips into the side of the sink while she tries to hold herself up together.

             I want to hear you beg.

             With her right hand, she tugs on her hair tightly hoping it would get rid of the series of loud sounds occurring in her own mind.

             You're weak.

             Spencer lets out a cry— why can't everyone just shut up?

             A disappointment.

             Another wave of dizziness hits her. There is two of everything... is that normal?

             Beg. Beg. Beg. Beg. BEG.

             "SHUT UP!" Spencer shrieks, punching the mirror with her free hand. The glass shatters into pieces and the force makes her drop with it. Someone enters the room in a fright and lets out a gasp. Spencer is crouching on the floor with her hand holding onto her head and her body swaying back and forth. Glass is surrounding her everywhere on the ground and even on her. Her hands bloodied up by how she broke the mirror.

             "Spencer..." Harry's voice is muffled by all the voices in her head. She's crying, she could tell by the burning of her eyes. He is bent down gently trying to find out what was happening. "What's happening? Spence?"

             He sounds so worried. Concerned. Caring. All the words overlapping in her mind comes from Morgana's voice that she does not bother trying to hear Harry. How was that possible? Is she using magic?

             "Mum, what's happening?" This time Ginny is fiercely heard with a shaking tone. Three familiar voices blurt in, "Is she alright?"

             "Shh, it's okay, sweetie. Remus is heading to gain another potion," Molly comforts her children quietly.

             Harry's hands find his way toward her, and despite the throbbing she feels in her arm and in her head, she digs herself on his neck. His arms wrap around her carefully, making sure he didn't dug in any shard of glass into her skin anymore than it is. Another figure reaches beside him and began taking the pieces out carefully. By the way his fingers felt, Spencer assumes it is Daniel.

             "It hurts," she cries out, letting herself unwrap from her friend. Tears streams down her face and the look on Harry's face absolutely destroys her apart. He appears so torn as if he hates how he could not do much.

             Daniel gently turns her head toward him. "It makes sense, Spencer... you smashed a mirror," he says softly.

             Spencer shakes her head. "M-my arm, my wrist— they hurt the most," she hiccups. Her brother carefully lets his hand ran through the parts she mentioned and a frown forms on his lips.

             "No shard of glass made it through, Spencer..." Daniel slowly began saying. "It shouldn't hurt since you don't have anything visible," he comments unsurely.

             "T-there should be a small dot! Morgana... she must've..." Spencer stammers, her cries dialing down and the pain slowly disappearing. Daniel swallows in worry before raising up her own arm so she could notice it. Just as he said, nothing had been there. Absolutely nothing. Not even a shard of glass. Not even evidence of a syringe having been there. It is just her normal skin. "But Morgana... she must've used magic!"

             Daniel glances up at the remaining audience and urges them to clean up while he takes her to the couch. He lifts her up easily, making sure to be careful no more glass stuck out in her body. While the twins were assigned to fix the broken glass and get rid of the blood, Mrs. Weasley along with Ginny and Fleur teams up to help in creating breakfast for not just the young girl, but for everyone else too while they were at it. Harry and Ron stay close to Daniel having nothing else to do and wanting to be there for her. Mr. Weasley and Remus has goner to retrieve a Calming Draught potion while Bill stays helping around the cleaning.

             "Spencer," Daniel calls out softly since he has given her time to process that the pain she had came from the pieces of glass. Though, he heals her up with magic, but it is not like she noticed. Spencer glances up shortly, her eyes bloody red in distraught. "You know Morgana does not have the power to hurt you from here. Even if there's a spell, she would not be the one to have figured it out. Voldemort hasn't exactly hurt Harry in that way, has he?"

             "It felt so..." Spencer trails off with a lost tone.

             "Real?" Daniel offers quietly. He eyes her curiously, a frown still place on his lips. When she nods, he released a sigh. "Sometimes, when you've gone through a hard time during life... whether it be a lost of a person, torture, trauma, it creates a tension within these people. Many know it as PTSS or PTSD meaning Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome."

             Spencer raises up her head confusingly. "Soldiers get that after coming back from war," she comments slowly.

             Her brother shrugs light-heartedly. "It doesn't necessarily only occur to soldiers. It occurs to anyone who has been through something tragic, traumatizing... even kids can have it," Daniel informs.

             She closes her eyes and disagrees with his words. "No, no, I don't have PTSD. I mean— this doesn't occur much!"

             "It doesn't have to, Spencer. Symptoms can occur months or weeks or years after what happened. Maybe it is not PTSD, as I am not a doctor, but you clearly are remembering some trauma... what happened to you?" Daniel makes a short connection, his eyebrows furrow closely together in worry. Harry mimics his expression, listening in closely beside Ron. "Talking about it may help."

             Spencer zones out for a few seconds, wondering if she should talk about it. She only returns back when her brother continues softly, "I've seen it in kids who had to witness a murder... or if they've been tortured."

             She flinches at the last sentence which does not go unnotice by them. Daniel tilts his head this time in rising anger. "Did someone torture you, Spencer?"

             "A year ago... exactly a year ago," Spencer begins to speak quietly, her eyes falling to the calendar that Mrs. Weasley has up in the wall. A year ago? It's been a year already? "I had been getting Morgana more furious than ever... she— I woke up in my room tied up in a chair and my wrists were held by ropes as were my legs..."

             The three people listening in go completely dead silence, no one dares to actually speak or even breathe. All attention heads toward her and they wait patiently for her to continue. "She had this drug in her hand... Haloperidol, it's uh— it's used for a treatment for Schizophrenia, but if one takes too much on it they can develop Parkinson's symptoms which include thinking problems," her voice becomes lower by the minute.

             "She wanted to overdose me on it and wanted me to beg— I didn't and I- I don't know what else she did, but she had me vulnerable and I remember seeing her face so clearly," Spencer began to gain heavy breaths once more. Daniel leans in closer, wrapping his arm protectively over her. "And she knows this. She told me so. That I would never forget her face, the power she had over me in that moment—"

             "Morgana can't get to you from here," Daniel assures softly. He stares at her in concern. "Why did you never told me about this?"

             Spencer glances at him. "I know part of you wants to believe that she can be saved. That she is a good person deep down... I used to believe she was. Maybe," she scoffs at her own words, "maybe I still somewhat hope. That maybe knowing you would help her see some sense in the world despite what she did to me, you know?"

             "But she tortured you, Spencer. She took away your safe place. Morgana made you fear your own room, she made you appear vulnerable and I know it seems like I want to save her, but I know the traits of a psychopath... Morgana cannot be saved. Not anymore," Daniel explains truthfully.

             "But being diagnosed as a psychopath does not make you evil," Spencer sniffles, her lips placed in a firm pout. She has always kept that thought in her head because it doesn't. They just see the world differently and are unique, but not evil. It is a stereotype that all psychopaths are born evil and become killers when they are simply misunderstood and Spencer tried to understand Morgana! She really did, but Morgana never wanted to hear about her logic because she was just 'a girl who reads too much and understands a little' and because Mordra always developed her into a replica of her.

             Daniel gives her a short smile. "No... it doesn't, but I don't think she can be taught differently, Spencer. She's already in deep," he tells her kindly. Spencer gulps and nods at his words, motioning for him to continue. "The reason for what happened today... your brain made the connection that it has been a year. An exact year of what happened. It felt trapped once more and you re-experienced what occurred because of it."

             "Will it get better?"

             Daniel softens his gaze. "It takes time. And it won't disappear. You'll still feel the panic, you'll remember how horrible it felt and appeared, but... it gets slightly numb as the years go by. Or at least, it did for me," he tells her kindly. Right, Spencer lets her eyes wander to the ground. He saw his girlfriend murdered in front of him.

             "I'm sorry," she apologizes, glancing at her own brother before staring up to the rest who made themselves in the same room. Mrs. Weasley smiles warmly and brings her some food.

             "Oh, don't apologize, dear," Mrs. Weasley waves off. "Just know that we see you as part of the family. We truly care about you, Spencer."

             A whole bunch of agreements murmur around the Burrow. Spencer let a slight smile take over her face. Once Daniel presses his lips on her forehead soothingly, she let herself calm down and focus on the bright side of this day. Spencer Montague is no longer alone.

.･:*:･ﾟ'✫,'✫'ﾟ･:*:･˙

             CHRISTMAS EVE FINALLY ARRIVED and everyone in the Burrow all gathered up completely better than a few days ago when Spencer had a breakdown. They all seem to understand why she reacted the way she did and made sure to express their love and concern for her off the charts. A genuine smile appears on her face as she sits comfortably beside Ginny while facing Remus and Daniel. They all listen to Mrs. Weasley's favorite singer, Celestina Warbeck, whose voice is warbling out of the large wooden wireless set. Many of them did not seem to agree with her choice of music, but this did tend to be Mrs. Weasley's home so none of them argued against it.

             "So, Spencer, have any idea what you'd like to be?" Professor Lupin— or Remus as he has been making her say this whole time— questions. Somehow, he is thinner than before with a more ragged-look than anything. It most likely had to do with him going off with the werewolves as her brother kindly informed her when he first arrived.

             She thought over his question, her mind traveling back to the time she met up with Professor Flitwick. Being only slightly organized (in a way that's messy), she knew that the file he gave her was still with her. "Well, Professor Flitwick actually did recommend me a job to aspire for! I had trouble before he came up with two ideas, although, one is more convincing than the other," Spencer tells Remus.

             Daniel leans in toward to hear their conversation and get involved. Remus raises an eyebrow and nods in continuation. "And what were they, if I may ask?"

             "One of them was to become a philosopher, but I don't really want to give my soul to trying to create a theory and well, all of that," Spencer answers. Remus and Daniel both chuckle in amusement to which she grins up at them. Then, her eyes fall onto her brothers. "The other... he actually recommended me to pursue as a wizard profiler."

             Her brother grins widely at her words. "No way! I wonder how many more people he recommended..."

             She tilts her head at him. "Actually, he told me that the last time he recommended this was 'seventeen years ago'. Which means that you were the last one," Spencer corrects in amusement.

             "Oh, this is bloody great," Daniel laughs. "Are you planning on actually doing it?"

             Spencer nods before raising up her pointer finger toward Remus. "That reminds me! In order to start off I need a personal recommendation letter from one of the DADA professors and I was hoping you could be the one, Professor— Remus, I mean," she mentions to the slightly gray-haired man.

             Remus began coughing in surprise for her request. "Me? But I'm... I don't think they'll accept it..."

             "Professor Flitwick personally recommended you, sir," Spencer brings up, her eyebrow arches up. "Plus, I don't think Professor Quirrell can help, Professor Lockhart doesn't even know his own name, a Death Eater turned out to be Mad-Eye Moody, and well, Professor Umbridge hates me with her entire soul. So, yeah. You happen to be my favorite DADA professor and believe me when I say being a werewolf is probably better than being recommended by a Death Eater."

             "What about Snape?"

             "Snape? You want me to get recommended by him? He doesn't even like me— and even if he does do one it'll probably be like 'Rather annoying' and most likely write everything horrendously," Spencer argues in surprise. Remus makes a face knowing she has a point.

             Daniel gives Remus a smile. "The authorities won't mind that you're a werewolf, Remus. Think you're the obvious choice for her either way," he defends the brunette.

             "Well," Remus sighs with defeat, "I suppose it won't hurt."

             "Thank you so much, Remus!" Spencer beams with happiness. "Getting one from Professor McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout will be easy then."

             "You only need two, don't you?" Daniel questions confusedly.

             Spencer shrugs. "Yes, but I just want to assure them that I know my stuff."

             He furrows his brows. "I could always put in a word for you," he points out easily. She gives him a look.

             "I don't want them to see me as your little sister. In fact, let's surprise them!" She exclaims.

             Remus finds himself chuckling once more. "Her spirit is quite appreciated."

             Ginny passes her some eggnog which Spencer gladly takes in. Harry began talking to Mr. Weasley about what he overheard Snape and Malfoy talk about back at Hogwarts. Remus began listening in to the conversation (as did Daniel) while Spencer patiently rest quietly on her own. She let her head rest on Ginny's shoulders and had the girl quietly talk about how Dean Thomas and her will not last any further. Spencer pretended not to notice how the redhead kept glancing at Harry more than usual. She knew from George and Fred that the younger girl used to have a crush on Harry because of his fame, but perhaps it blossom into something more now.

             After Ginny finishes telling her about the mixed emotions she kept having, Daniel turns toward her. "Have you...?"

             Spencer does not need to think much about what he is talking about. Back in their last Hogsmeade trip, Spencer and Daniel met up to talk about a couple of things. One of them is about something called 'eld', while the other consists of Death Eaters that roamed around Hogwarts. She nods at his words and then leans forward to whisper, "I have read about three books each day—"

             "Wait a minute," Daniel interrupts her with a frown. "Were you getting enough sleep?"

             "Not in the beginning, but Ricky made me dial it down," she corrects uncaringly. "Anyway, I went through many of them and I think I may know what 'eld' is suppose to refer to."

             Spencer forgot to mention one thing since this whole holiday started and even before that. It occur to her all by accident, actually. One time she had been absolutely tired of reading all about the cores of wands— seriously, perhaps she should become a wandmaker after this— and began reading a story that wizard children would be read to by their parents. Though, her own parents did not read her the book, she did manage to read it by herself. The Tales of Beedle the Bard is known for the legendary tale of... the Elder Wand along with two other devices. However, Spencer did not skim over the word for one reason only. Eld. Right in the book it mentioned not just 'wand' but eld as well. In this children's tale, the Elder Wand is suppose to be the most powerful to have exist.

             Daniel places his fingers on his chin thoughtfully and with skepticism. "You think that 'eld' refers to the Elder Wand...?"

             She shrugs indifferently. "It would make sense, wouldn't it? If Voldemort truly believes that this wand exists— hell, maybe Grindelwald had used it during his time trying to take over the Wizarding world. Ollivander may have more knowledge upon it and even if the Elder Wand does not truly exist," Spencer definitely thinks it did since the book mentioned the Cloak of Invisibility and ironically, Harry has that, "he may want Ollivander to make one like it. It is possible that he knows how the core was made of. However, any information regarding how to build it is not even in the Restricted Area... perhaps it's considered far dangerous."

             Daniel nods unsurely before telling her, "I'll look into that, then, but I don't know... a children's book?"

             The two of them quieten down as they listen to Remus's story on how he had been bitten by Fenrir Greyback at the age of four. Spencer drinks her eggnog slowly, her eyes drawn to the ground feeling bad for her former professor. She did not understand why he can dislike himself for something that he has no control over. Remus is possibly one of the kindest adults she has met and it is a shame he does not see himself that way all because of what happened to him when he was four.

             "—but you are normal! You've just got a— a problem!" Harry exclaims defensively. Remus laughs light-heartedly and gives him a small smile.

             "Sometimes you remind me a lot of James. He called it my 'furry little problem' in company. Many people were under the impression that I owned a badly behaved rabbit," Remus chuckles, his eyes brightening in the memory of his old friend. Harry renders quiet for a couple of seconds before hesitantly asking, "Have you heard of someone called the Half-Blood Prince?"

             Ah, Spencer raises her eyebrows. Harry did tell her about his Potions book and how it is filled with all this writing for corrections on the potions they work on class. After their session, she tends to take notes from him (not the book) just to have the right materials and instructions, but she tries doing it on her own during class. She turns back to Daniel wondering about his own workload. "So, you didn't have a case today?"

             Daniel sighs in relief. "Thankfully, I didn't. You know, muggles tend to be a handful when it comes to holidays, unfortunately. One time I spent Christmas Eve trying to find a serial killer who killed someone every year in that day. It came to our attention before the twenty-fourth, of course, but we barely caught him on time."

             Spencer scrunches up her nose. "Crime doesn't wait, does it?"

             "Unfortunately," he responds dryly.

             Next morning aka Christmas Day, Spencer found herself surprise that it is Fleur who woke up early with a happy grin on her face. The blonde girl seems to be glowing brightly at what day it is. She found it interesting how all three of them slept in Ginny's room and all had different hair color. Truthfully, it wasn't of any importance but she did find it cool. Fleur's blonde, Ginny's a redhead, and Spencer is a brunette— simple as that.

             "We 'ave some presents!" Fleur exclaims excitedly, motioning Spencer the two owls addressed for her. She rubs her eyes while walking toward them, carefully recognizing both of them without a doubt. One of them is Nunzio who somehow remembers her and let himself be pet. Spencer never heard of the name Nunzio before and she had done some digging unintentionally. It was kind of ironic to read that the name in Italian is meant to be seen as a messenger. Clearly, Blaise is full of laughs, isn't he?

             "This one's from Ricky, look," Ginny hands over the letter from the other owl. She gave them some food from what they had of Pigwidgeon and the two of them flew off. Unsurprisingly, Ricky's owl is just named 'Owl' for no other reason than his family trying to pass it off as normal. Spencer opens up the letter from Ricky first and began reading it.

To the best person I know,

             Hey, loser. Merry Christmas! I seriously still cannot believe where you are right now. It makes me happy that you no longer have to tolerate your own sister and parents and instead in a loving household. My family is wishing you a Merry Christmas too! Hope you enjoy your gift just as I truly appreciate mine. Thank you, Spencer.

Love,
Ricky

             Spencer smiles and rolls her eyes all the same. She unwraps the small box with it that reveals a book called American Psycho written by Bret Easton Ellis. Her eyes quickly scanned the synopsis before raising an eyebrow curiously. It is a story told in first-person by a serial killer. That... was both interesting and different. She smiles in appreciation before placing it down. While the other two girls left downstairs, Spencer stays in the room to read the letter Blaise had given her.

Dear Jo March,

             I apologize for being part of the reason for why we did not talk. It is odd that those first few months had been off with me heading to the Astronomy Tower and not seeing you there. I am glad that you enjoyed Slughorn's party... I have to say, it was not bad at all. Don't thank me for what I have been doing, it is my free choice and I have chosen to side with you. Anyway, Merry Christmas, Spencer. My mother wishes it to you back and embarrassingly has told me already that she wishes to meet you soon. Thank you for the rings, by the way. I was thinking of getting my ears pierced with it as well, but maybe for another time. Any who, about the kiss... I don't regret it. I hope you don't as well, though, not really fair of you to pull a Cinderella and vanish on me, Miss March. We'll talk more when we come back, but for the meantime, Merry Christmas.

Sincerely,
Charles Darnay

             Spencer let herself blush through his words since no one else was in the same room as her. She glances down at the small box that has been tied with it and carefully opens it up. Her eyes widens in surprise upon noticing a gold-shimmering necklace. She parts her lips in surprise and takes it out to look at it more closely. There is a clear stone in the middle of it which she could not help but let her hand run through it gently. Then, a simple yellow color began appearing for the amount of seconds that her finger touch the stone. When she let go, it vanishes completely and turns back to normal. Wicked cool, Spencer admires with a grin.

             Downstairs, Spencer receives even more gifts and for being a part of a family who actually had money and yet never received gifts, she almost cried in front of them. Fortunately, she bought gifts for them as well and made their day in return.

             (Except she actually cried to Mrs. Weasley when she gave her a blue sweater that had the initial S on it).

             Everyone of them sat down for Christmas lunch with the sweaters that Mrs. Weasley knitted for them— even Fleur has one but Spencer knew it was because Ginny had probably given her a tough-said speech. Spencer sat beside Daniel and Harry as they prepare themselves to eat.

             "I invited Tonks to come along today," Mrs. Weasley says, carefully resting the last few items on the table before sitting down. "But she wouldn't come. Have you spoken to her, Remus?"

             Spencer glances up at her former professor, noticing the redness in his scarred cheeks and if possible, a somewhat young look. Clearly, something is happening between the metamorphmagus and werewolf— though, complicated by the looks of it.

             Remus clears his throat cautiously. "No— er— I haven't been in contact with anybody very much," he answers awkwardly. "But she has a family to spend it with, right?"

             Mrs. Weasley eyes him distastefully as if it's his fault the woman wasn't here. Before she could expand on it, Harry clears his throat and tells Remus, "Tonks's Patronus has changed its form. Snape said so anyway. I didn't know that could happen! Why would your Patronus change?"

             Remus took his time chewing his turkey and swallowing before saying slowly, "Sometimes... a great shock... an emotional upheaval..."

             "It looked big and had four legs," Harry hums thoughtfully. Spencer began coughing as soon as he said those words. "Do you mean it's a w—"

             She cut herself off not wanting to embarrass Remus and turned to Daniel instead. "Do you have one?"

             Her brother rose his eyebrows before clearing his throat. "Uh— I do, actually. It's an owl," he answers.

             Spencer tilts her head in curiosity. "An owl... one for wisdom and knowledge," she grins up at him. Daniel chuckles at her words and nods in agreement.

             "Not only do our Patronuses reflect our personalities, but those we fall in love with. I like to think that the owl symbolizes how Estela and I used to communicate with messages and in Hogwarts, owls delivers and sends them," Daniel sighs lightly, a small smile on his lips. He quirks an eyebrow at her. "Do you have one? Don't they teach it to you this year?"

             She motions to Harry with a proud look. "Harry taught us how to do one last year. Mines a Tonkinese cat," Spencer informs him, a small wink given to the boy beside her who blushes in embarrassment for being called out.

             Daniel whistles lowly, "Impressive." She smiles at him and continues eating before slowly chewing when Mrs. Weasley then called out, "Oh, Arthur! Arthur— it's Percy!"

             "What?" The twins furrows their eyebrows together mostly in anger. Ginny stands up from her seat to get a better look, Mr. Weasley looked around, Ron stops midway from eating his turkey. There, sure enough, is Percy Weasley, striding across the snowy yard, his horn-rimmed glasses glinting in the sunlight. He is not, however, alone.

             This Percy person that Spencer had heard nothing but rubbish about enters the room stiffly and blankly says, "Merry Christmas, Mother."

             "Oh, Percy," Mrs. Weasley cries out, throwing her arms around her child. Spencer glances past him and notices the new Minister, Rufus Scrimgeour, pauses by the doorway.

             "You must forgive this intrusion," the Minister spoke firmly and with a slight cold smile. "Percy and I were in the vicinity— working, you know— and he couldn't resist dropping in and seeing you all."

             Spencer scoffs to herself, walking toward the twins who only intensified their glare at their brother. She hands them both her hand and quietly comforts them. Percy did not seem to agree with the Minister's words and did not even bother to greet anyone else. He stands, poker-face and awkward-looking as he stares at everyone else. She checks him silently. Percy has the same red hair as the rest of his siblings and even manages to get a few good-looks as well. Though, he didn't really appeal to her for the fact that he abandoned his family without a second of doubt.

             "Please, come in and sit down," Mrs. Weasley tells them all flustered up. She struggles to straighten her hat and stammers, "Have a little purkey, or some tooding... I mean—"

             "No, no, my dear Molly," Scrimgeour denies politely. She raises an eyebrow curiously and then turns her attention to the silent Weasley. Interesting...? "I don't want to intrude! Percy here really wanted to see you all badly..."

             "Oh, Percy!" Mrs. Weasley weeps and kisses her son in the cheek. Spencer crosses her arms and rolls her eyes. The Weasley was all simply a pawn to give the Minister an excuse to head to the Burrow. How undeniable selfish and rude.

             "...We've only looked in for five minutes, so I'll have a stroll around the yard while you catch up with Percy. No, no, I assure you I don't want to butt in! Well, if anybody cared to show me your lovely garden... Ah, that young man's finished, why doesn't he take a stroll with me?" Scrimgeour fakes his enthusiasm, his eyes landing on Harry for the first time. Spencer glares at the Minister and his obvious white lie in how it should be the 'young man' to have finished.

             "Mmh, funny how apparently no one else did..." Spencer hums in return, her tone with obvious sarcasm as she glance down at Ginny's, Fleur's, and George's plates. The Minister clears his throat awkwardly, barely giving her a glance as he kept his eyes on Harry. The boy beside her hid his snicker while Daniel sighs at her words. Harry gave her a thankful look before shrugging toward the Minister.

             "Yeah, alright," Harry agrees quietly. He walks past the male adults and gives them a reassuring look before strolling off with the Minister.

             Spencer glares at the retreating man. "I hate the Ministry... no offense, Mr. Weasley," she admits, giving the redhead adult an apology glance. Arthur gives her a kind smile in return. Her attention reverts back to the other figure. "So, you're Percy Weasley?"

             Percy stares down at her, which is weird since she's tall, but the Weasley males do tend to be even more so. "Yes, and you are...?"

             His tone is cold and indifferent, obviously not wanting to be in this situation but forcing himself to stick with it to help the oh-dear Minister. Fred scowls at him and places his arm protectively over her. "None of your business, Ignatius," the redhead responds for her.

             Ignatius? Spencer scrunches up her nose before making a note that the name is probably his middle one. "Spencer Montague," she greets, ignoring the disappointed sigh from Fred. Before she could retort something back as he gives her an uninterested look, Mrs. Weasley is quick to offer him food.

             "We've missed you," she tells her son almost in tears. George and Fred roll their eyes instead. Bill crosses his arms and give the two of them a sharp look. Spencer knew he just mouthed the words 'dial it down' to the two of them. She salutes to Daniel who had given her a strict look because of how she acted to the Minister. Well, let's just say that after last year, Spencer no longer respects the Ministry except for a few members— meaning those of the Order.

             Still, even with the intrusion of the two unwanted but slightly wanted figure, this Christmas manages to not be so bad.

             (For this time Spencer actually had a family to celebrate it with).

▂✫⌒*･ﾟ

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
when i wrote this chapter it took
forever but then i remembered i
cannot forget that a yr ago for
spence it was horrible so :) it's fine
tho!! she was with her real family 💖

but sorry for not having blaise be in
this chapter 😁👍 he'll appear next
one ✨